Wireless network with unmanned vehicle nodes providing network data connectivity

ABSTRACT

An unmanned vehicle (UV) system provides network data connectivity for terminals. UV nodes in the system may transmit and receive terminal data in a network of UV nodes and other nodes according to a routing protocol. The nodes may include fixed nodes or UV nodes with a wired or wireless network connection to a destination terminal. A UV node may receive data from a source terminal for transmission to the destination terminal, and when the UV node is within range of a node in the network connected the destination terminal, the UV node transmits the received data to the node within range for forwarding to the destination terminal via the network.

PRIORITY

This application is a Continuation of commonly assigned and co-pendingU.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/064,177, filed Mar. 8, 2016, whichclaims foreign priority to Indian patent application number2810/CHE/2015, having a filing date of Jun. 4, 2015, and to Singaporeanpatent application number 10201504438U, having a filing date of Jun. 5,2015 the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference intheir entireties.

BACKGROUND

Unmanned vehicles (UVs) such as aerial vehicles (e.g., Unmanned aerialvehicles (UAVs), or drones), land vehicles, etc. are typically operatedwithout a human aboard and are used for a variety of operations. Forexample, UVs may be used for aerial surveillance (e.g., police/firedepartment, cartography, photography, film, journalism, real estate,etc.), exploration (e.g., mine detection, site survey, etc.), research(e.g., wildlife, atmosphere, ocean, etc.), remote sensing (e.g.,telecommunications, weather, maritime, construction, etc.), packagedelivery (e.g., food, medicine, equipment, etc.), etc.

UVs may include the ability to receive instructions on how to perform atask, and then repeat the task until receiving instructions to stopperforming the task, or based on the occurrence of an exception that theUV has been preprogrammed to respond to. An operator may monitor thestatus of the UV, and then report the results of the task followingplatform based UV's execution. Also, UVs may be semi or fully autonomous(e.g., “smart platform”). Semi or fully autonomous platforms may receiveinstructions related to a task. Based on real-time sensor data detectedby the UV and a set of objectives that are specified by theinstructions, the semi or fully autonomous platform based UV may bedeployed to follow the instructions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Features of the present disclosure are illustrated by way of examplesshown in the following figures. In the following figures, like numeralsindicate like elements, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a detailed architecture of a system, according to anexample of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates details of the components of the system of FIG. 1,according to an example of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 3A-3C illustrate operations of the system of FIG. 1, according toan example of the present disclosure; and

FIGS. 4A-B illustrate a flow chart of a method for providing networkdata connectivity for terminals, according to an example of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

For simplicity and illustrative purposes, the present disclosure isdescribed by referring mainly to examples thereof. In the followingdescription, numerous specific details are set forth in order to providea thorough understanding of the present disclosure. It will be readilyapparent however, that the present disclosure may be practiced withoutlimitation to these specific details. In other instances, some methodsand structures have not been described in detail so as not tounnecessarily obscure the present disclosure.

Throughout the present disclosure, the terms “a” and “an” are intendedto denote at least one of a particular element. As used herein, the term“includes” means includes but not limited to, the term “including” meansincluding but not limited to. The term “based on” means based at leastin part on.

Unmanned vehicles (UVs) such as aerial vehicles (e.g., Unmanned aerialvehicles (UAVs), or drones), land vehicles, or even collaborative robotsare typically operated without a human aboard. UVs may be used in avariety of ambiguous environments, and for performance of a variety ofambiguous tasks.

According to embodiments described herein, UVs are used as wirelessnodes in a network to provide network data connectivity for terminalswhich may be located in remote locations, such as for plantations,forestry or other remote areas or any other location. The UVs, which mayinclude terrestrial or aerial UVs (e.g., UAVs), can establishconnectivity with the terminals, which may include mobile or fixeddevices, to provide online and offline data connectivity with servers orother computer systems, which may be provided at an operations office orhome base where the UVs are launched or other locations remote from theterminals. Data connectivity may include transfer of any type of dataover the network. In an example, the data includes data gathered fromsensors. The data may include numeric data, audio data, images, video,etc. If real-time data connectivity is available, the data may includestreaming data, such as streaming audio or video. Also, the dataconnectivity may include secured or unsecured communication, such assecured or unsecured communication between nodes or between nodes andterminals. Secure communication may be provided throughencryption/decryption and exchange of keys. A UV that can operate as anode in the network is also referred to as a UV node. A network includesnodes that can route data to a destination. The routing may be performedaccording to a routing protocol, which may be based on a source and/ordestination identifier, which may be a network address. In one example,the network is a mesh network and the routing may be performed byflooding to connected nodes or based on shared topology informationand/or routing tables stored at each node that may be used to determinea next hop towards a destination. In another example, the routingprotocol may be a spanning tree protocol.

The UVs may be mobile wireless nodes in a network to provide online andoffline data exchange between terminals connected to the network. A nodeis an electronic device that may be connected to other nodes in thenetwork and terminals through a communication interface, and is capableof creating, receiving, or transmitting information over acommunications channel. The node may be capable of transmitting datatoward a destination via another node according to a routing protocol. Anode may be a mesh node in a mesh network capable of distributing datato other nodes in the network. A node may be fixed or mobile and mayinclude wireless and/or wired communication interfaces. The nodes mayinclude hardware and software, including the wireless and/or wiredcommunication interfaces, to allow devices to perform operations ofnodes in the network. A mesh network may include a network that is adhoc where nodes may enter and leave the network. Some nodes may be fixedin the network rather than mobile. The nodes cooperate in thedistribution of data in the network and can relay data, such as throughrouting or flooding protocols. A terminal may include an endpoint in thenetwork or a device connected to the network, and may include an enduser device, server or other type of computer that can communicate withnodes in the network via a communication interface to send our receivedata. The terminals may include mobile or fixed devices. For example,the terminals may include mobile end user devices, such as laptops,smart phones, tablets, etc. The terminals may include sensors, such aswater level sensors, temperature sensors, wind sensors, etc., with anetwork interface. The terminals may include fixed computer systems thatmonitor and/or control other devices, such as a water gate that isopened or closed to control water distribution.

According to an example, the system may include terrestrial and aerialUVs that are semi or fully autonomous and operate as mobile wirelessnodes in the network to provide network data connectivity for theterminals. The UVs may communicate with other nodes or a computer systemin a home base or an operations office at a particular geographiclocation. For example, there may be fixed nodes in the network that areconnected to the operations office through a wired or wirelessconnection. When a UV is within range of a fixed node, data collected bythe UV from remote terminals may be transmitted to the fixed node fortransmission to the operations office for storage and analysis. Thesystem may include terrestrial or aerial fixed nodes. In an example,tethered balloons may be deployed to operate as fixed nodes in thesystem that can relay data collected from UAVs to the operations office.Untethered balloons may be used as well for nodes. The untetheredballoons may be remotely controlled from the operations office and maybe maneuvered to predetermined locations as needed to operate as a nodefor a particular location.

Regarding network data connectivity for the terminals, the system canprovide data connectivity in both directions (e.g., upload and download)for the terminals. For example, nodes may send data to terminals andreceive data from terminals for transmission to a destination. The UVsmay be preprogrammed to send particular data to particular terminals aspart of a mission plan. The UVs may also receive data from the terminalsfor transmission to computer systems at the operations office and/or atother locations.

The UVs may provide network data connectivity based on planned andunplanned visits of terminals. For example, a UV may have a programmedroute (e.g., a travel route over a geographic area) where terminals areexpected to be located, such as in particular areas where sensors thatare terminals are located or where field workers with terminals arelocated. The programmed route of the UV includes planned visits to theseareas and terminals expected to be located in these areas to providenetwork data connectivity for these terminals. The UVs may also providenetwork data connectivity for unplanned visits. For example, the UVs maydetect terminals while travelling on a preprogrammed route and theseterminals may be in areas that are not expected to include a terminal ormay include terminals not expected to be in a particular location. A UVdetecting a terminal can enter in a data exchange with the terminal toidentify the terminal as a “friendly” terminal and provide network dataconnectivity for the terminal.

The system may provide non-real-time and real-time network dataconnectivity. Non-real-time connectivity may be provided by UVs that canconnect with a terminal to upload or download data. Data uploaded to aUV from a terminal is stored in the UV until the UV gets connectivity toanother node, such as a fixed node, or the operations office or anotherUV that is a node. The delay for the UV to connect to another node orthe operations office makes the connection non-real-time, however, thedelay may not be extensive, such as less than sixty minutes. The networkdata connectivity may be real-time. For example, if a UV connects with aterminal and is within range of the operations office or another nodethat can connect to the destination, transmission may be in real-time.

Traditionally, network data connectivity is not available for remoteareas, such as for forestry, logging, plantations, or other scenarios.For example, people would have to physically travel to the remote areas,which may take several hours, to communicate with field workers anddevices in the field. Some of the remote areas may be in geographicareas with little or no infrastructure or in terrain, such as mountains,jungle, etc., that is difficult to traverse, and to reach these areas tocommunicate with field workers and devices in the field may take days.The system of the present application may provide network dataconnectivity for these remote areas and allow control of devices inthese areas, such as control of mechanical actuators of an irrigationsystem or control of other devices, and allows for bidirectionalcommunication with other devices and computer systems connected to thenetwork.

FIG. 1 illustrates a system 100 according to an embodiment that includesUVs to provide network data connectivity. The system 100 may include anetwork comprised of nodes. The network may be a mesh network that is atleast partially ad hoc. The nodes include wireless nodes and/or wirednodes that form the network. The UAVs 110 are mobile wireless nodes andinclude communication interfaces to communicate with terminals 104. Thesystem 100 may include one or more terrestrial UVs, e.g., terrestrial UV111, that are also mobile wireless nodes. The terrestrial UVs may bevehicles, such as cars or trucks. The system 100 may include fixednodes. The fixed nodes may include tethered balloon 105 and terrestrialfixed node 106. For example, tethered balloon nodes can be released atparticular locations as needed and may be stationed up to 1000 feetabove their anchor point. Terrestrial fixed nodes may be fixed atpredetermined locations along a travel route of UV nodes. A UV nodeincludes a UV that can also operate as a node in the network. The fixednodes or any other type of node may operate as a repeater for anothernode. The fixed node may include wireless and/or wired communicationinterfaces. For example, a fixed node may include a wirelesscommunication interface to communicate with UV nodes, and may include awired interface connected to a node in the operations office 120.

The fixed nodes may be the last hop in the network before an end nodethat is connected to a terminal. For example, the tethered balloon node105 and the terrestrial fixed node 106 are connected to the operationsoffice node 107 which is an end node connected to the computer systemsof the operations office 120. A UV node can communicate with the node105 or 106 instead of having to travel to the operations office 120 todownload or upload data from the computer systems of the operationsoffice 120. For example, UAV 110 b may collect data from the terminals104 b, and transmit the data to the operations office 120 via thetethered balloon node 105 (which is connected to the operations officenode 107), so the UAV node 110 b does not need to return to theoperations office 120 to do so.

FIG. 1 shows the Internet, which may be connected to any of the nodes orterminals in the system 100 if access to the Internet is available. Anypublic or private network, which may or may not include the Internet,may be connected to any of the nodes or terminals in the system 100 ifaccess to the network is available. In an example, nodes in the Internetmay be intermediate hops between a node in the system 100 and adestination which may be a node, terminal, operations office 120 or anydevice connected to the network of the system 100. For example, thetethered balloon node 105 may be connected to the Internet, andtransmits packets including data from terminals 104 b and UAV 110 b to adestination, such as the operations office 120, via the Internet. Inthis example, the tethered balloon node 105 may generate TCP/IP packetsfor transmitting the terminal data over the Internet to the destination.

Terminals 104 can communicate with the nodes (e.g., nodes 110 and 111),which provide network data connectivity for the terminals 104. Theterminals 104 may transmit data to a destination in the network, such asthe operations office 120, or receive information from another terminalor device connected to the network via the nodes. The terminals 104 mayinclude end user devices. For example, terminals 104 a and 104 b mayinclude end user devices, such as laptops, smart phones, tablets, etc.The terminals 104 may include wireless sensors. For example, terminals104 c and 104 d may include wireless sensors. The wireless sensors 104 cand 104 d monitor physical or environmental conditions, such astemperature, sound, pressure, water flow, etc. and transmit their datavia the nodes in the network to the operations office 120 and/or otherdestinations. Terminal 104 e may be connected to an actuator and mayreceive commands from the operations office 120 via a mobile node, suchas UAV 110 c, to control the actuator. The terminal 104 e may alsoinclude a sensor and can transmit its sensor data to the operationsoffice 120 via the UAV 110 c. In an example, the terminal 104 e isconnected to a actuator to control opening and closing of a water flowgate. The terminal 104 e may receive a command from the operationsoffice 120 via the UAV 110 c to raise or lower the gate and may includea water flow sensor to measure the water flow. The water flow sensordata may be transmitted to the operations office 120 via the UAV 110 cto determine whether the water flow gate was raised or lowered inaccordance with the command. A terminal may include any computer thatcan connect to the network to transmit or receive data via the network.

The operations office 120 may be a building or other structure andhouses computer systems and nodes. The nodes may include wired and/orwireless nodes. The nodes may communicate with other nodes, such asother UV nodes or fixed nodes in the network. The computer systems ofthe operations office 120 may be connected to servers 103 via a network,such as the Internet or other public and/or private networks. Theoperations office 120 may be a home base for UV nodes. For example, UVnodes, such as UAVs 110 a-d and terrestrial UV 111, may be launched fromthe operations office 120 to perform a mission and may return to theoperations office 120 when the mission is completed. The UV nodes may beprogrammed with their missions and flight plans or travel routes at theoperations office 120 and may be fueled or recharged at the operationsoffice 120. Also, the UV nodes may download data collected from theterminals 104 to the computer systems at the operations office 120.Also, data and commands to be transmitted to the terminals 104 may beuploaded to the UV nodes at the operations office 120.

Data collected by the UV nodes may be stored at the computer systems ofthe operations office 120 and the servers 103 and may be analyzed. Forexample, sensor data may be analyzed to detect fire hazards, determinecrop growth, determine locations of mobile terminals, etc. Commands maybe generated and transmitted to the terminals via the UV nodes based onthe analyzed sensor data.

The UV nodes may be programmed with travel routes and can communicatewith terminals that are encountered on their travel routes. The UV nodesmay be deployed in remote locations having terrain that is difficult totraverse to provide network data connectivity for terminals in thoselocations. The remote locations may include some travel routes. Forexample, for forestry or logging, some access roads may be created toallow terrestrial vehicles to reach particular job sites. TerrestrialUVs, such as terrestrial UV 111, may be programmed to travel on theseroads to provide network data connectivity for terminals 104 c withinrange of the roads. Also, data collected from the terrestrial UVs may betransmitted to the operations office 120 via the terrestrial fixed node106, which may be connected to the operations office 120 via a wiredconnection. The UAVs 110 a-d may be programmed with travel routes thatare more difficult to traverse on land to provide network dataconnectivity for terminals encountered on their travel routes.

Network data connectivity may be provided by the UV nodes for terminalsencountered during planned or unplanned visits. For example, the UAV 110a may detect terminal 104 a on its travel route but the UAV 110 a maynot be expecting to encounter terminal 104 a (i.e., unplanned visit).The UAV 110 a may determine whether the terminal 104 a is a “friendlyterminal” and establish a connection with the terminal 104 a if it isfriendly. Establishing a connection between nodes or between nodes andterminals for example includes the nodes and/or terminals permittingtransmitting or receiving of data to or from the nodes or terminals. Forexample, once a connection is established between the UAV 110 a andterminal 104 a, the terminal 104 a may send data to the UAV 110 a fortransmitting in the network to a destination, and the UAV 110 a receivesthe data and forwards the data to the destination. If needed, the UAV110 a may adjust its flight plan or call for another UAV to provide thenecessary network data connectivity for the terminal 104 a as is furtherdescribed below with respect to unplanned visits. UAV 110 b, UAV 110 cand UV 111 may provide network data connectivity for terminals 104 b,terminals 104 d-f, and terminals 104 c, respectively, during plannedvisits. Details on providing network data connectivity for plannedvisits are further described below.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of components of the system 100 shown inFIG. 1. UV node 200 may include any of the UV nodes shown in FIG. 1,such as UAVs 110 a-d or UV 111. The UV node 200 includes a UV, which maybe any type of UV, including aerial, land, space, and marine UVs. The UVnode 200 may take off (e.g., for a UAV), navigate, capture data,transmit collected data, return, and land without human interaction.

The UV node 200 may include a hardware processor 202, sensor 206,communications interface 207 and a non-transitory data storage 203. Theprocessor 202 for example is an integrated circuit. The processor 202may be a chipset with central processing unit and/or custom processingcircuits, such as an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) orfield-programmable gate array (FPGA). The processor 202 may executemachine readable instructions 204 to perform the operations of the UVnode 200. The operations may include sensor data processing for analogand digital input/output (I/O), kinematics (e.g., position andorientation of objects), proportional-integral-derivative (PID) feedbackcontrol, rules application (e.g., if this, do that), navigation (e.g.,move to a waypoint), mission execution (e.g., manage multiplewaypoints), telemetry management (e.g., summarizing telemetry datacaptured from wireless sensors), counter, and data management (e.g.,memory, disk, etc.). The processor 202 may provide for outputs such asmovement, motors (e.g., servos, stepper, brushless), hydraulics,pneumatics, gravity release, visual indicators/feedback, LEDs, LCDs,displays, audio indicators/feedback, speaker, buzzer, etc., voltagechange (e.g., not in use, go to low power mode), and externalcommunication subsystems (e.g., radio, IR codes). The processor 202 alsoincludes capabilities of encryption/decryption and exchange of keys forsecure communications. In an example, public/private key encryption maybe performed by the processor 202 to encrypt data transmitted to a node.Any of the nodes or terminals may encrypt/decrypt data for transmissionin the network. The processor 202 also executes other functionsdescribed herein to provide network data connectivity for the terminals104.

The sensor 206 may include sensors to gather data associated with amission. The sensor 206 may include a variety of types of sensors thatmay be categorized as sight sensors, sound sensors, touch sensors, smellsensors, position sensors, external communication sensors, proximitysensors, and other (e.g., miscellaneous sensors). The sight sensors mayinclude sensors for ascertaining light intensity, color, distance (e.g.,by infrared (IR), measuring angle of light bounce), video capture,rotation (e.g., optical encoders), and/or light signal read (e.g.,infrared codes). The sound sensors may include sensors (e.g., amicrophone) for ascertaining volume (e.g., decibel meter), frequencymeasurement, and/or distance (e.g., sonar, measuring time to echo). Thetouch sensors may include sensors for ascertaining position awareness(e.g., collision alert, contact confirmation, etc.), bend/strain,temperature, and/or pressure (e.g., barometric, grip strength, etc.).The smell sensors may include sensors such as gas sensors, alcoholsensors, etc. The position sensors may include sensors (e.g.,accelerometer, digital compass, gyroscope) for ascertaining location(e.g., based on global positioning system (GPS), proximity to a beacon,etc.), and/or tilt. The external communication sensors may includesensors for ascertaining radio communication, and/or IR codes. Theproximity sensors may include sensors to ascertain nearness in space,time, and/or relationship. The sensors may include network communicationstatus, and/or voltage (e.g., low fuel, low battery) sensors. The UVnode 200 need not include all the sensors described above and mayinclude one or more of the sensors needed to provide network dataconnectivity for the terminals 104. As discussed above, the terminals104 may include sensors to measure and collect environmental or othertypes of data, and the UV node 200 can collect this data to transmit itto a destination.

The communications interface 207 may include one or more networkinterfaces for connecting to the terminals 104 and other nodes in thenetwork. The communications interface 207 may include a transceiver andmay include an antenna for wireless communication. The communicationsinterface 207 may include wireless and/or wired network interfaces. Thecommunications interface 207 may include a Wi-Fi interface or otherwireless or wired interfaces. The communications interface 207 mayinclude shorter range communication interfaces, such as Bluetooth orZigbee interfaces.

The data storage 203 may include hardware storage devices that arevolatile and/or non-volatile. Some examples of the data storage devicesmay include RAM (random access memory), ROM (read only memory), EPROM(erasable, programmable ROM), EEPROM (electrically erasable,programmable ROM), hard drives, flash memory, etc. The data storage 203may store the machine readable instructions 204. The data storage 203may store data and commands 205. The data may include data collectedfrom the terminals 104 for transmission to a destination, such as theoperations office computer 210. The data or commands may includeinformation downloaded to the terminals 104, such as commands describedwith respect to terminal 104 e to control an actuator or to perform someother function.

The operations office 120 may include operations office computer 210.Similar to the terminals 104, the operations office computer 210 is acomputer connected to the network comprised of the UV nodes 110 andfixed nodes. The terminals 104 may bi-directionally communicate with theoperations office computer 210 via the nodes. The operations officecomputer 210 may receive data collected by the UV nodes or fixed nodesfrom the terminals 104 and process the data and/or send the data toservers 103. Also, operations office computer 210 may send data andcommands to the terminals 104 via the UV nodes or fixed nodes.

The operations office computer 210 may include or be connected to anode, such as the node 107 shown in FIG. 1. For example, the operationsoffice computer 210 may include a communications interface 217, similarto the communication interface 207 of the UV node 200 to connect to thenetwork. The operations office computer 210 may include a processor 212and data storage 213. The processor 212 for example is an integratedcircuit. The processor 212 may be a chipset with central processing unitand/or custom processing circuits, such as an application-specificintegrated circuit (ASIC) or field-programmable gate array (FPGA). Theprocessor 212 may execute machine readable instructions stored in thedata storage 213 to perform the operations of the operations officecomputer 210.

The data storage 213 may include hardware storage devices that arevolatile and/or non-volatile. Some examples of the data storage devicesmay include RAM (random access memory), ROM (read only memory), EPROM(erasable, programmable ROM), EEPROM (electrically erasable,programmable ROM), hard drives, flash memory, etc. The data storage 213may store any data used by the operations office computer 210 includingdata received from the terminals 104 via the nodes.

Operations of the operations office computer 210 may be performed by theprocessor 212 executing machine readable instructions stored in the datastorage 213. Examples of operations performed by the operations officecomputer 210 may include transmitting data to the terminals 104 via themesh network and receiving data from the terminals 104 via the network.This is shown as send/receive data in network 221. The operations mayinclude mission planning control 220 that enables a UV node to beprogrammed to run autonomously. The UV node may be equipped with sensorsand intelligence to maintain altitude and a stabilized flight (e.g., foran aerial UV), and to determine the position and altitude of the UV atany given point in time. This enables the UV to navigate between twoprogrammed points according to pre-defined waypoints, without any humaninteraction during the flight (e.g., for an aerial UV). Movementplanning control 222 may be used to launch the UV, and control the UVflight path (e.g., for a UAV) and associated sensors.

The servers 103 may be connected to the operations office computer 210via a network 208 shown as a dashed line. In an example, the servers 103may be in a data cloud. The servers 103 may include servers forperforming functions 211, 214 and 216 described below. The servers 103may include hardware and software not shown, such as processors andnon-transitory data storage that can store machine readable instructionsexecutable by the processors. The servers 103 can provide remoteprocessing 216 of data collected from the terminals 104 via the nodes ofthe mesh network. Processing of the terminal data may also be performedat the operations office computer 210.

The servers 103 may perform fleet and mission operations control 211.The fleet and mission operations control 211 may receive work orders,which specify operations for missions to be performed by the UV nodesand which are programmed into the UV nodes for example by the operationsoffice computer 210. The programmed operations may be determined basedon the information collected from the terminals 104, such as to gathermore data at problematic locations or to control actuators at particularoperations. The servers 103 may perform mission management 214, such asmaintaining information regarding UVs and wireless sensors at theterminals 104. For example, mission management 214 may track UVs bytype, availability, and an ability to mount particular sensors.

The fleet and mission operations control 211 may operate in conjunctionwith the mission management 214 to convert UV work orders to a missionparameters to programmed into a UV node. For example, for a UAV node,the parameters may specify a flight time, a flight plan, equipment(e.g., the specific UV, sensors, and any UV operation crew). The flightplan may include a launch point, predefined way points, alternate rallypoints, payload requirements, video or other data gatheringrequirements, payload operation instructions, commands for terminalsand/or mission objectives.

The mission management 214 may schedule and assign the mission.Specifically the mission manager 112 may assign the UV node (or aplurality of UV node) for a mission. Mission planning control 220receive the mission parameters from the mission management server, andprogram the assigned UV node. The UV node may follow the movement planautonomously or with varying degrees of remote operator guidance fromthe movement planning control 222.

FIGS. 3A-3C illustrate data flow diagrams for examples of operations ofcomponents of the system 100. Referring to FIG. 3A, at 300, a UV workorder 330 may be received for fleet and mission operations control 211,and the work order may be generated by a user or a computer. The UV workorder 330 may include, for example, a mission date, a mission time,and/or a mission objective (e.g., operate as UV node for wirelesssensors on route A).

At 302, the fleet and mission operations control 211 may convert the UVwork order 330 to mission parameters, which may be determined based on atime for a mission, and include aspects related to compliancerequirements for the mission, selection of the UV node and specificationof a required movement path. The mission parameters may be sent to themission management 214 for further analysis.

At 310, the mission parameters may be forwarded to the mission planningcontrol 220. The mission planning control 220 at 311 may program theselected UV node of the correct type (e.g., quad copter UAV) with themission parameters including movement plan information such as launchpoint, predefined way points and alternate points, payload requirements,payload operation instructions, and mission objectives. In this example,the type of UAV selected is a quad copter which has hovering capability.Another example of a type of UAV is a fixed wing UAV. Other types of UVsmay also be selected. At the mission controller 102, the missionplanning controller 120 may generate a display of the missionrequirements. The mission planning controller 120 may further generatethe display of the objectives for the mission, and a movement path forthe mission.

Referring to FIGS. 3B and 3C, at 312, the mission controller 102 maylaunch the mission and gather data via the network. With respect tolaunch of the mission, the mission planning control 220 may program andlaunch the UV 110 b on route A. The UV 110 b gathers data from terminals104 encountered on route A (e.g., planned/unplanned visits) fortransmission to the operations office computer 210. At 314, terminaldata including telemetry data may be received at the operations officecomputer 210 from the UV 110 b when it returns from completing route A.Alternatively, the terminal data may be received from a fixed node onroute A that received the gathered terminal data from the UV 110 b. Themission planning control 220 may send the terminal data to the servers103 for remote processing 216 at 316.

In FIG. 3C, at 322, if deemed appropriate, the fleet and missionoperations control 211 may send instructions to the mission planningcontrol 220 to program the UAV 110 b, which may be done via nodes in thenetwork when the UAV 110 b is in flight or when the UAV 110 b is dockedto the operations office computer 210. For example, the instructions maymodify a travel route, such as return to a location X, or some otherinstruction. The new instruction may be determined based on previouslytransmitted terminal data.

FIGS. 4A-B illustrate a flow chart of a method 400 for providing networkdata connectivity for terminals, according to an embodiment. The method400 is described by way of example with respect to the system 100 shownin FIG. 1. At 401, a UV node is launched and is programmed with amission. For example, one or more of UAV 110 a-c and UV 111 are launchedand are programmed with mission parameters, including a travel route andterminals expected to be at predetermined locations or waypoints alongthe route (e.g., planned visits).

The UV node may store terminal identifiers (IDs) of the terminals thatit is expected to communicate with for planned visits and may storeterminal IDs of other terminals in the system 100 and/or a “friendly”identifier that identifies a terminal as being part of the system 100for unplanned visits. The terminal IDs and the friendly ID may be usedto establish a secure connection between the UAV 110 a and terminalsthat it encounters during flight and may be securely stored in theterminals and the UAV node 110 a to prevent unauthorized access. The UAV110 a may also store a beacon ID that is periodically broadcasted duringflight so terminals can determine when the UAV 110 a is within range.

Also, the UV node may store commands to transmit to particularterminals. For example, the UV node may store a terminal ID and commandfor each command to be transmitted to the associated terminal. Thecommand may be an instruction to perform an operation at the terminal.For example, a terminal ID of terminal 104 e is stored along with acommand to execute an operation, such as raise water gate one meter.

At 402, the UV node travels on its programmed path and broadcasts abeacon ID that is identifiable to terminals 104 in the system 100. Anyof the terminals 104 that receive the broadcasted beacon ID determinethat a UV node is within range and can initiate communication with theUV node to transmit data in the network of nodes to a destination deviceconnected to the network. The beacon ID and other communications may betransmitted/received via communications interface 207 shown in FIG. 2 ofthe UV node. The beacon may be periodically or continuously broadcastedwhen the UV node is travelling on its programmed path. If the UV nodeengages in communication with a terminal, the broadcasting of the beaconID may be stopped until the communication is completed.

Also, at 402, the UV node is monitoring for received communicationrequests from any of the terminals 104 that may be transmitted from aterminal receiving the beacon ID to initiate communication with the UVnode.

Planned visits may happen at predetermined locations on the travel pathof the UV node. Unplanned visits may happen at any location on thetravel path of the UV node and at any time during transit on the travelpath. Steps 403-411 show steps for a planned visit with a terminal at apredetermined location on the travel path.

At 403, the UV node determines that it is at a location for a plannedvisit where the UV node is expected to communicate with a terminal.Expected terminal IDs and corresponding locations may be stored in theUV node as mission parameters. At 404, the UV node receives a connectionrequest from a terminal. The terminal may send the connection request inresponse to receiving the broadcasted beacon ID from the UV node. Theconnection request may include the terminal ID. For example, the UV nodeis near terminal 104 d and terminal 104 d receives the beacon ID of theUV node and transmits a connection request with its terminal ID.

At 405, the UV node determines whether the terminal ID in the connectionrequest is an expected terminal ID for the current location for exampleby comparing the received terminal ID with any expected stored terminalIDs for the current location to determine if there is a match. Thecurrent location may be detected by the UV node through globalpositioning system (GPS) or through other location detection sensors.

At 406, if the terminal ID is an expected terminal ID for the currentlocation, the UV node transmits the friendly ID. The transmission mayalso include the received terminal ID (e.g., terminal ID for terminal104 d) so terminal 104 d sending the connection request determines thecommunication is a response to its connection request versus anotherconnection request that may have been sent by another terminal in thevicinity, such as terminal 104 e or 104 f. Terminal 104 d receives theresponse to the connection request, including the friendly ID and itsterminal ID. Terminals 104 e and 104 f may ignore the response since theresponse message does not include their terminal IDs. The terminal 104 ddetermines that the response is for its connection request because itincludes its terminal ID. The terminal 104 d determines whether thefriendly ID matches a friendly ID stored in the terminal 104 d. If yes,the terminal 104 d sends an acknowledgment (ack) to the UV node toconfirm that a connection to the network of nodes is established andthat the terminal ID will be sending data to be transmitted to adestination via the network. If the friendly ID does not match afriendly ID stored in the terminal 104 d, the terminal 104 d does notsend an ack message.

At 407, the UV node determines whether it receives an ack message fromthe terminal 104 d within a predetermined period of time of sending theresponse at 406. The predetermined period of time is a timeout periodand may be 10-15 seconds or some other suitable time period. If the ackmessage is not received from the terminal 104 d prior to expiration ofthe time period, other received connection received requests, if any,are serviced for the current location in accordance with the steps ofthe method 400 at 408.

If the ack message is received from the terminal 104 d prior toexpiration of the time period, at 409, the UV node transmits data to theterminal 104 d and/or receives data from the terminal 104 d. Forexample, the UV node may store data or commands to transmit toterminals. If data or a command is stored for the terminal 104 d, thedata or command is transmitted to the terminal 104 d. The terminal 104 dmay have data to send on the network to a destination. For example, thedata may include sensor data, such as wind, water, temperature or othermeasurements. The sensor data is transmitted to the UV node and receivedby the UV node. The data may include a destination ID of the destinationof the data for transmission in the network. The destination ID may bean Internet Protocol (IP) address or some other destination ID. In anexample, the destination ID may be an ID for the operations officecomputer 210. At 410, the data, along with a source ID (e.g., ID ofterminal 104 d) and a destination ID are stored in the UV node.

The UV node may transmit the data from the terminal 104 d to anothernode in the network toward the destination or to the destination whenwithin range at 411. The transmission from the source (e.g., terminal ID104 d) to the destination (e.g., operations office computer 210) may bemulti-hop. The multi-hop transmission includes transmitting the datafrom the source to the destination via multiple nodes (e.g., UV nodesand/or fixed nodes) in the network. For example, the UV node may beusing a WiFi interface with limited range, such as 20-30 meters. The UVnode may transmit the data to a fixed node connected to the destinationwhen the UV node is within range of the fixed node (e.g., node 105 or106 in FIG. 1). The fixed node may forward the data to the destinationor via another node towards the destination. The UV node may transmitthe data to the destination via any node in the network that isconnected or connectable to the destination. For example, the UV nodemay transmit the data via another UV node that is in route towards thedestination. For example, the UV node may detect another UV node that isin flight, and exchange messages with the UV node to determine whetherit is traveling toward the destination in its current travel path. Ifthe detected UV node is determined to be traveling toward thedestination, the UV node transmits the terminal data to the detected UVnode. The detected UV node may transmit the data to the destination viaanother node or directly to the destination.

If the UV node does not detect other nodes during its travel path, theUV node may transmit the data to the destination when the UV nodereturns to the operations office. If the operations office is thedestination, the data is downloaded to the operations office computer210 for example when the UV node returns to the operations office, andtransmission of the terminal data to the destination is completed.

The destination can be a destination other than the operations officecomputer 210. For example, the destination may be one of the servers103, and the terminal data is transmitted to the server using thedestination ID of the server. The destination may be another terminalconnected to the network. For example, terminal 104 e may use sensordata from one of terminals 104 c and terminal 104 d to determine whetherto execute an operation. The UV nodes and/or fixed nodes may be used totransmit data from the terminals 104 c and terminal 104 d to theterminal 104 e.

The UV node may adjust its flight or travel path to facilitatecommunication with terminals. For example, if foliage is dense, a UAVnode may reduce it altitude to get closer to a terminal. Signal strengthmay be used to determine whether to adjust altitude. A UAV node mayhover or circle back to a terminal if it is fixed wing to complete adata transmission with a terminal Also, if needed, a UAV node may changeits travel path or flight plan. For example, if data transmission fromterminals to the UV node is taking longer than expected, the UV node mayreturn to the operations office before fully completing its travel pathif its power supply falls below a threshold.

FIG. 4B includes steps for unplanned visits, which may occur at any timeduring the UV node travel on its travel path. At 421, a terminal isdetected, such as terminal 104 a shown in FIG. 1. The terminal may bedetected at a location that is not for a planned visit or the terminalmay be detected at a location of a planned visit but the terminal is notexpected to be at that location. The terminal may be detected byreceiving a connection request from the terminal, such as described at404. The connection request may include the terminal ID of the terminal.

At 422, the UV node determines whether the terminal is an approvedterminal. For example, the UV node stores terminal IDs of the terminalsin the system 100 that the UV node is allowed to communicate with. TheUV node determines whether the terminal ID in the connection requestmatches a stored terminal ID of approved terminals. If the receivedterminal ID does not match, the connection request is ignored at 423. Ifthere is a match, at 424, the UV node transmits the friendly ID to theterminal, similar to 406. The terminal receives the response to theconnection request, including the friendly ID. The terminal determineswhether the friendly ID matches a friendly ID stored in the terminal. Ifyes, the terminal ID sends an acknowledgment (ack) to the UV node toconfirm that a connection to the network of nodes is established andthat the terminal will be sending data to be transmitted to adestination via the network. If the friendly ID does not match afriendly ID stored in the terminal, the terminal does not send an ackmessage.

At 425, the UV node determines whether it receives an ack message fromthe terminal within a predetermined period of time of sending theresponse at 424. The predetermined period of time is a timeout periodand may be 10-15 seconds or some other suitable time period. If the ackmessage is not received prior to expiration of the time period, thecommunication with the terminal may be ended at 426 or the UV node maytry to re-send the response message from 424 a predetermined number oftimes before ending communication.

If the ack message is received from the terminal 104 d prior toexpiration of the time period, at 427, the UV node determines whetherits travel path needs to be adjusted. For example, assume the UV node iscommunicating with the terminal 104 a for the unplanned visit. The UVnode exchanges messages to determine an amount of data to be receivedfrom the terminal for transmission in the network towards a destinationand estimates an amount of time to complete the transmission of the datafrom the terminal 104 a to the UV node. The UV node may need to circleback to the terminal 104 a if it is a fixed wing UAV if the transmissionof the amount of data will exceed the time it is within range of theterminal 104 a. If the UV node has hovering capability, it may hover atthe location of the terminal 104 a to complete the transmission.

The UV node may also estimate whether it can complete its mission andtravel path given the time spent for the unplanned visit or whether itneeds to adjust its travel path, such as cutting it short. For example,the UV node may have a limited power supply (e.g., battery, fuel, etc.).The UV node determines whether it has a sufficient power to complete thetravel path or whether it needs to shorten the travel path.

In another example, the terminal 104 a may send a notification to the UVnode that it is in an emergency situation. The notification may be apredetermined code designating an emergency situation. In this case, theUV node determines the terminal 104 a is an emergency situation based onthe received notification and may immediately return to the operationsoffice 120 to provide notification of the emergency situation.

At 428, the travel path is modified if needed, and at 429, the UV nodecompletes the transmission of the data from the terminal 104 a to the UVnode. At 430, the UV node continues with the travel path, which may bethe modified travel path. Similar to discussed with respect to steps 410and 411, at 431, the data received from the terminal 104 a may betransmitted towards its destination. The data may be transmitted viaother nodes to its destination.

The method 400 provides network data connectivity for terminals so theycan transmit and receive data via the network. The network dataconnectivity may be non-real time. For example, if the node receivingthe data from the terminal is not within range of another node that isconnected to the destination, the transmission is delayed until such anode receives the data for transmission to the destination. If the nodeis connected to the destination, such as a fixed node connected to thedestination or a UV node within range of the fixed node, then thetransmission may occur in real-time or near-real-time. The UV node mayreceive the data from the terminal and moves to the closest accesspoint, such as a fixed node, to relay the information for the terminalto its destination. The UV node may store locations of fixed nodes so itcan determine the closest access point to the network. A UV node maydetermine that a node is a fixed node that is able to provide real-timenetwork data connectivity for example by storing node IDs of fixednodes. A UV node may enter into a data exchange with anode node todetermine the node ID, determine whether it is a fixed node or determinewhether it can provide real-time network data connectivity to adestination. In an example, a node may store a routing table, andentries in the routing table may include destinations and indicatewhether the node has real-time network data connectivity to thedestination.

One or more of the methods, functions and operations described hereinmay be performed by computer hardware, including a processor or otherintegrated circuit. In some instances, the processor may execute machinereadable instructions stored on a non-transitory computer readablemedium. The computer hardware may be provided in the terminals, UVs,computers, servers, etc., shown in FIG. 1 of the system 100. The system,methods, functions and operations disclosed herein may be used in avariety of environments and for a variety of purposes, including theenvironments described above. Other additional purposes or environmentsmay include monitor a pipeline in the oil and gas industry, siteexploration (e.g., site survey, site drilling, etc.), manufacturing,transportation (e.g., right of way monitoring, theft monitoring, etc.),package delivery (e.g., food, medicine, equipment, etc.), aerialsurveillance (e.g., police/fire department, cartography, photography,film, journalism, real estate, etc.), research (e.g., wildlife,atmosphere, ocean, etc.), remote sensing (e.g., telecommunications,weather, maritime, construction, etc.), disaster relief (e.g.,survivors, explore contaminated areas, etc.), environment (e.g., forestfires, threats, etc.), and agriculture (e.g., spray pesticides, cropgrowth, disease, irrigation level, wild animals, etc.).

What has been described and illustrated herein is an example along withsome of its variations. The terms, descriptions and figures used hereinare set forth by way of illustration only and are not meant aslimitations. Many variations are possible within the spirit and scope ofthe subject matter, which is intended to be defined by the followingclaims and their equivalents in which all terms are meant in theirbroadest reasonable sense unless otherwise indicated.

What is claimed is:
 1. An unmanned vehicle (UV) system providing network data connectivity, the UV system comprising: a UV node comprising a hardware communication interface, a processor to transmit and receive data in a network according to a routing protocol, and a memory storing values including a terminal ID and an expected location of a source terminal approved for connecting to the network, wherein the UV node identifies source terminals for connecting to the network through planned visits or unplanned visits, wherein the processor is to cause the UV node to: receive a connection request from the source terminal, the connection request including the terminal ID of the source terminal; determine, based on the terminal ID of the source terminal in the connection request, a determined location of the UV node, and the values stored in the memory, whether to approve the source terminal for connecting to the network through a planned visit; in response to a determination to approve the source terminal, establish a connection with the source terminal; receive data from the source terminal; transmit the data to a destination terminal; in response to a determination not to approve the source terminal, identify whether the source terminal is authorized for an unplanned visit before establishing the connection with the source terminal; in response to a determination that the source terminal is authorized for the unplanned visit, determine an amount of data to be transmitted to the UV node from the source terminal; and determine whether to modify a programmed travel route based on the amount of data to be transmitted to the UV node.
 2. The UV system of claim 1, further comprising a second node connected to the destination terminal, wherein to transmit the data to the destination terminal, the UV node is to: determine whether the second node is within a range of the UV node for forwarding the data to the destination terminal via the network; and forward the received data to the destination terminal via the second node in response to determining that the second node is within the range of the UV node.
 3. The UV system of claim 2, wherein the second node is connected to the destination terminal via the Internet or another public or private network.
 4. The UV system of claim 1, wherein the UV node is programmed with the programmed travel route comprising the terminal ID and the expected location of the source terminal approved for connecting to the network, and the UV node broadcasts a beacon ID when traveling on the programmed travel route.
 5. The UV system of claim 4, wherein the connection request is transmitted by the source terminal in response to receiving the beacon ID.
 6. The UV system of claim 4, wherein the destination terminal comprises a computer located where the UV node starts on the programmed travel route.
 7. The UV system of claim 4, wherein the UV node is programmed to transmit commands to the source terminal on the programmed travel route when the connection is established with the source terminal.
 8. The UV system of claim 7, wherein the source terminal receives the commands from the UV node and executes the commands to execute an action at the source terminal.
 9. The UV system of claim 1, wherein a predetermined identifier identifying the source terminal as part of the network is stored in the memory, and prior to establishing the connection, the UV node: transmits the predetermined identifier to the source terminal; and receives an acknowledgment response from the source terminal in response to the source terminal validating the predetermined identifier.
 10. The UV system of claim 1, wherein the UV node establishes network connectivity for a plurality of sensors located in different geographic locations and transmits sensor data received from the plurality of sensors to a remote computer via the network.
 11. The UV system of claim 10, wherein the remote computer processes the sensor data and determines a mission plan or a change to an existing mission plan for the UV node or another UV node based on the processed sensor data.
 12. The UV system of claim 1, wherein the processor is to cause the UV node to: determine an amount of time to complete transmission of the amount of data from the source terminal to the UV node; and modify the programmed travel route based on the amount of time to cause the UV node to circle back to the source terminal, cause the UV node to hover in range of the source terminal, or shorten the programmed travel route.
 13. A method of providing network data connectivity for a remote terminal, the method comprising: receiving, by a communication interface of an unmanned vehicle (UV) traveling on a predetermined travel route, a connection request from the remote terminal, wherein the connection request includes a terminal ID of the remote terminal; determining, based on the terminal ID and a current location of the UV, whether the remote terminal is expected at the current location based on the predetermined travel route through a planned visit; in response to determining that the remote terminal is expected at the current location, the UV establishing network data connectivity for the remote terminal to a network of nodes via the communications interface; transmitting, by the UV, data received from the remote terminal to a destination terminal; in response to determining that the remote terminal is not expected at the current location, identifying whether the remote terminal is authorized for an unplanned visit before establishing the network data connectivity for the remote terminal; in response to determining that the remote terminal is authorized for the unplanned visit, determining an amount of data to be transmitted to the UV from the remote terminal; and determining whether to modify the predetermined travel route based on the amount of data to be transmitted to the UV.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein transmitting data received from the remote terminal to the destination terminal includes transmitting the data directly to the destination terminal from the UV.
 15. The method of claim 13, wherein transmitting data received from the remote terminal to the destination terminal includes transmitting the data via intermediate hops.
 16. The method of claim 13, wherein in response to determining that the remote terminal is not expected at the current location, the UV determining whether the remote terminal is authorized for unplanned visits before establishing a connection with the remote terminal.
 17. The method of claim 13, further comprising: determining an amount of time to complete transmission of the amount of data from the remote terminal to the UV; and modifying the predetermined travel route based on the amount of time to cause the UV to circle back to the remote terminal, cause the UV to hover in range of the remote terminal, or shorten the predetermined travel route.
 18. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing machine readable instructions executable by a processor associated with a UV node to: receive a connection request from a remote terminal to connect to a network, wherein the connection request includes a terminal ID of the remote terminal; determine whether the remote terminal is expected to be at a current location on a programmed travel route of the UV node through a planned visit; in response to a determination that the remote terminal is expected at the current location of the UV node, establish a connection with the remote terminal; in response to determining that the remote terminal is not expected at the current location, identify whether the remote terminal is authorized for an unplanned visit before establishing the connection with the remote terminal; in response to a determination that the remote terminal is authorized for the unplanned visit, determine an amount of data to be transmitted to the UV node from the remote terminal; and determine whether to modify the programmed travel route based on the amount of data to be transmitted to the UV node.
 19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein the instructions are further to cause the processor to: determine an amount of time to complete transmission of the amount of data from the remote terminal to the UV node; and modify the programmed travel route based on the amount of time to cause the UV node to circle back to the remote terminal, cause the UV node to hover in range of the remote terminal, or shorten the programmed travel route. 